Becoming Numb
by LauraliBlack
Summary: She ran to him. The rain thundered down outside. What she did was wrong. She knew. What she did was clearly against fate, but she did not care. He needed her. He was not as strong as the front he put on.


She ran to him. The rain thundered down outside. What she did was wrong. She knew. What she did was clearly against fate, but she did not care. He needed her. He was not as strong as the front he put on.

She saw him standing in the rain.

"What are you doing out here?" She yelled over the roar of the wind.

"Becoming numb." His voice was only a whisper, but she heard him none the less. She draped a blanket around him and he leaned into her. She lead him into the warmth of the massive building.

She brought him into a room that many did not know existed.

"Stop caring." He said after she had lit a fire. She sat down in front of him.

"Why?" She asked knowing his answer for they had had the same conversations many times.

"I'm not worth it."

"You are."

"No." He wouldn't look at her. This was what happened every time. Every time she brought him to this room silence would follow. She knew he hated this room and she knew why. This is where he first crossed the line. A line he thought he could never cross back over.

"Don't do this to yourself." She seemed to shock him. When the silence fell she had in the past let it remain, but this time she was determined.

"Let the past be the past. It can only follow you around if you let it."

"How would you know?" His voice was threatening. He looked right into her eyes and hers now met a pool of steal gray. A minute later they had softened and he looked away.

"I can't say I do." She said quietly. "But I know that people change. You can change." He shook his head and stared into the fire.

"I don't know any other way. I…" But his voice failed him his tears came and he looked away. She knew what he had done. Knew that even though he had been cleared of all charges that the truth gnawed at him from the inside out.

His parents were dead. The only one in the house had been him. No one was able to apperate in or out of the house. So he had been taken to trial. They had cleared him. More for the fact that no one cared for his parents and were glad to see them gone. They didn't care how or at whose hand they had died. She knew for he had told her.

"They're getting suspicious. You're in danger." He said quietly.

"How?" She said trying to hide her alarm.

"They know about our...correspondence."

"They know about say it like its work." She tried to lighten the mood.

"I'm leaving." He said sadly.

"Leaving? You can't."

"Maybe more lives will be saved if I just take myself out of the equation."

"Did you not hear me? You can't! I…I wont let you." He stood and she followed his action.

"You don't seem to understand." He looked over her shoulder not being able to look in her eyes.

"I understand you're trying to run from everything. I'm in danger whether you're here or not. I'm a mudblood remember!" Her yelling had made his gaze switch to her.

"I have hurt you so much. I never deserved you." He made his way to the door, but she walked in front of him. "Please, let me go." His eyes searched her face as if searching for life's answers there.

"I…can't let you leave." She backed up to the door. Her tears raced down her cheeks now. "I won't let you." He nodded. Lifting his hand he wiped away the tears. He then leaned down and softly kissed her. Bringing her into his arms he turned her so his own back was now against the door. With his hand on the door knob he broke the kiss and opened the door.

She watched as he raced down the stairs she followed slowly, knowing that it was meant to be this way. She watched as he raced down flight after flight of stairs. A teacher met him not far from the doors. She slid around the corner so as not to be seen.

"Mr. Malfoy, it is very late." She heard the familiar voice of Professor Sprout. Sighing she turned and shot a stunning spell from her wand towards the professor. She fell onto the floor. She locked eyes with him before he was out the door. She ran to the door to watch him walk a way. His cape blew behind him in the wind as he made his way to the gates. The last she saw of him was but a shadow and then it too was gone.

It was her turn to now stand in the rain by the tree. Minutes rolled by and by the time she was found she was soaked to the bone.

"Ms. Granger? What in Merlin's name are you doing out here?"

"Becoming numb." Was her only answer.


End file.
